


Rain of Ashes

by Kessie



Series: For better or worse [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Lots of drama, M/M, Multi, divergence after Ep 42/43
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-05-06
Packaged: 2017-12-09 03:44:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kessie/pseuds/Kessie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gracia had always feared this day might come. They were dead and she was the only one left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the prequel to And I fall. I might try and finish this if anyone wants to read it.

# Rain of Ashes

**By Kessie**

Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa etc, Square Enix and funimition. I don’t make a profit

Pairing - various combinations of Roy/Riza/Maes/Gracia

Rating - NC-17 to be safe

Warning: very angsty!!! Character deaths or are they?!!??

Summary - Gracia had always feared this day might come.

Author’s Note #1 -This is my **first Fullmetal Alchemist fic** so bear with me. **Also this is unbetaed so read on your own risk**.

Author’s Note #3- italics are flashbacks

Author’s Note #3: **Story goes AU from Episode 42/43**

 

The knock on the door had come when Gracia had been baking cookies with Elicia. Hands still greasy from dough, she grabbed a towel wipe them clean on her way to the door, somehow already knowing something was wrong.

With Maes and the others being on a mission she had been left waiting again, hoping that everything went all right.

 

Like always.

 

Sighing she wandered into the hall. They didn’t get many visitors, much less at this time of the day, and so she took one last breath, bracing herself for what was on the other side of the door. Grabbing the handle, she opened it and came face to face with Second Lieutenant Havoc.

"Mrs. Hughes," he greeted, his expression already showing the message he was going to give, "There… there has been an accident…!"

 

She swallowed and guided him inside, leading him into the kitchen where Elicia was still playing with the dough that hadn't found a place in the oven yet. "Hun, I think we have baked enough cookies for today, how about you go a play a bit with your dolls in the living room?" Instinctively she didn’t want her daughter to hear this.

It would be hard enough for her already.

 

Helping her daughter to wash her hands in the sink she then watched as the small one ran towards the living room without complaining.

"Have a seat" She motioned Havoc, who did what he was told. Then much weaker. "What happened?"

Havoc took a deep breath before starting. "We got a report from the East today. There was a fight. They are missing, but it doesn’t look good. Military is about to pronounce them dead."

Gracia nodded, playing a bit with a piece of dough in front of her. "How?" Was all she could manage.

 

Havoc steadied himself again, clearly close to breaking himself.

"They were cornered in a house, while they were fighting. When the troops came to help there was a huge blast, leaving nothing but a huge pile of rubble. They haven't found anything but ashes and a few bits of their uniform. Roy….they believe that he was the one who killed them, apparently seeing no other way out."

Silence. Gracia was kneading the piece of dough in her hand now, tears misting her eyes.

"Riza…"

"Was with them, yes."

Her gaze dropped and she found herself staring at the table, trying so hard to think straight but failing. God no. All three of them at once? That couldn’t be, no. Life couldn’t be so unfair and… That meant she was all alone now.

 

"The only one we found was Edward Elric. He was near the building when it happened. He survived, but is hurt pretty bad and still unconscious. But he'll pull through."

 

Edward. They boy who was like a son to Maes and her. She should have known he couldn’t be far form danger as well. Her loved ones never were.

"Can I see him?"

 

Havoc nodded. "Yes, I already made the arrangements. He will arrive in the hospital here tomorrow morning. Alphonse is with him in the train now. He is pretty shaken by everything of course. He was a few blocks away when it happened."

Gracia nodded, thinking.

Try to be steady. You can't break. Not now. The kids need you. She practically scolded herself, but was failing. Wiping off the tears from her cheek her gaze again turned to Havoc who was watching her with a worried expression.

 

"Gracia, if I can do anything…" He started but she hold up a hand.

 

"No its okay, Jean. I just … Elicia needs to go to bed soon."

 

Jean nodded and got up to leave, seemingly understanding that she needed to be alone now.

They walked towards the door in silence.

"I´ll come and get you at eight, okay?" Havoc said and she nodded, already wanting to close the door as he stopped again.

"Gracia? I´m so sorry. I wished I…"

 

She managed a tiny smile. " I know, Jean. I know."

And then he was gone, leaving her alone to her thoughts and her three ghosts of what had been.

 

Gracia didn’t know if he and the others knew that the four of them had been lovers, but she thought they'd probably suspected it.

It was left unspoken, though, fraternization was forbidden and even if they hadn't been in the military; a relationship with four people was not the norm.

Damn the norm, Gracia thought with a sigh.

So many secrets, so much hiding.

They had never been safe.

 

"Mommy, is Unca Jean gone already?" Gracia hadn't even heard Elicia come into the hall. Turning around she hid her tears under a well schooled mask and smiled.

"Yeah, hun he has to get up early tomorrow. And so do you."  
Leading her daughter into the bedroom, Gracia was glad when Elicia went to bed without complaining.

Elicia was smart, so she probably felt something was up, but Gracia knew she couldn’t explain everything to her daughter now.

It was just too fresh.

 

Switching off the light and giving the little one her goodnight kiss she went downstairs again, letting herself fall onto the couch. She closed her eyes and listened a while to endless tick-tock of the living room clock. It grew unnerving after a time and so she opened her eyes again, instantly regretting it as her gaze went over to the photo. There, left to her on the little table, was a picture of her and Maes. Roy had took last year on the beach when they were on vacation.

It showed her and Maes in loving embrace, smiling at the camera, just being happy.

This seemed like another time now.

Maes.

Her wonderful, beautiful Maes. Feeling his embrace again was all she wanted now, but she knew it would never come.

She had fallen in love with him the first time she saw him and back then she hadn't even know his heart. Now she knew the full extent of it and it even made her ache more.

 

"Hello. Where are my little darlings!" Maes opened the door to his house, grinning from one ear to another. "Gracia, Elicia!"

 

_"Daddy! Daddy!" The little one had stormed towards him at once and he scooped her up in his arms, while his wife entered from the kitchen._

_"Hello hun, how was your day?" She asked, stealing a kiss, while Maes set Elicia down again._

 

_"Oh the usual. But…"grabbing into his bag he brought out a huge Teddybear, holding it out to Elicia." Look what I have found!"_

_The eyes of the small one lit up and she embraced the bear instantly, smiling._

 

_"Aww, Daddy! He is so beautiful! I´ll name him Edward."_

 

_Maes chuckled a bit. What would Fullmetal say to this? Maes probably didn’t want to know, did he?_

 

_He already could hear Fullmetal´s voice: WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO CUTE THAT HE COULD BE CONFUSED WITH SUGAR?_

_Actually it would be too funny._

 

_But no, he wasn’t going to tease the boy like Roy did._

_It wouldn't be fair._

 

_Gracia had just watched the whole exchange and shook her head, seemingly amused as well._

_"You are spoiling her Maes!" She said, but didn’t really look annoyed. "She already has an armada of stuffed animals up there and soon she wont fit in her own bed anymore!"_

 

_Maes grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Am I?" He asked, producing another small package from the bag._

_  
"Aww Maes you shouldn’t have!"_

 

_"Naw nothing is good enough for my little darlings!" Another longing kiss and soon Gracia was wearing the ring that Maes had bought her._

 

_"Hun. You shouldn’t always buy so expensive stuff." She said, looking at it for another time, admiring the beautiful stone in the middle._

_"I know, but I want to. After all there's nothing more dear as my loved ones!"_

 

_Gracia had just smiled at that._

 

 

Getting up, she wandered over to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a whiskey. But just one, she told herself, knowing that she would need a clear head for everything. Anyway one couldn’t hurt, could it? Shaking her head she found she sounded just like Roy. It made her smile somewhat.

She would miss these beautiful dark eyes and the dark hair she couldn’t help but ruffle every time she saw it. And his smile, rare but so genuine it always made her heart melt.

She still remembered the first time he had joined her and Maes in bed. He had been so shy…

 

_"Roy, you coming?" Maes looked at his friend for another time, waving him over to the bed, where he and Gracia already were embraced. "Are you having second thoughts? You don’t have to ..."_

 

_Roy scooted a bit closer to them, but still kept a distance.  
 "I … I don’t know, it feels a bit weird simply joining in. I mean you guys are going to be married soon and I don’t really belong…" _

 

_Now it was Gracia who shook her head._

 

_"No, Roy that's not true. You belong already. I told you I knew of you and Maes for a long time now and it`s okay."_

 

_Roy smiled for second, but then dropped his gaze again, still a bit embarrassed and insecure. "But… but its not the…"_

 

_He didn’t come any further because Gracia silenced him effectively with a longing kiss. "No buts hun..." She smiled and leaned in to kiss him again. At first he responded to it a bit shy but as he felt Maes embracing him from behind he let himself fall…_

 

They had made love the whole night back then.

And it had grown from there. Even more so as Riza had appeared in their lives. Well, technically she had been there all along but it had taken a while until she practically had fell into the relationship with them. Roy had been the one who started it, since he had been in love with her for a long time already. And instead of developing two couples they developed a foursome.

A strong group of people who couldn’t be separated, no matter what.

And Riza had been one of the strongest of them.

 

_Maes had been hurt. That was all Gracia knew._

 

_In a rush of panic she had ran into the hospital, where she had to wait in front of closed doors, since he was still in surgery._

 

_Even though she just had arrived a few minutes ago waiting was unnerving her already._

 

_"He'll be all right, don’t worry. The bullet just hit his arm." She hadn't even noticed that Riza had come up behind her but relaxed somewhat as she felt herself embraced by two arms._

 

_Turning around she searched for the strong woman's eyes, but Riza avoided her._

 

_"I´m sorry. I should have made sure he didn't..."Guilt came of the other woman in waves, but Gracia shook her head._

 

_"Riza, its all right. I know you always look out for him. But sometimes they are just too stupid for their own good."_

 

_Maes and a few others had been training at the shooting range and a stray bullet had hit Maes at his arm. Apparently there had been alcohol involved and Roy had already suspended the soldier responsible for this. Later it turned out all he had gotten was a tiny graze but nevertheless she had been worried._

 

_"Yeah, I know..." Riza was smiling now and drew the woman in for a longing kiss, which Gracia answered a bit hesitantly._

_"Riza, we shouldn’t.. you're in uniform…"_

 

_But Riza just grinned at her and gave her another kiss on the cheek._

_"I send the nurse to her lunch break, don’t worry. Said I would take care of you."_

 

_Gracia couldn’t help but smile. Of course Riza had thought of everything. She always did._

 

 

Gracia smiled at the memory and let a few tears fall. It would have felt so good to be in Riza´s strong arms now. But it wasn’t supposed to be.

Looking outside at the now already dawning sky she decided she had to be strong.

 

For her.

.

And for them.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 

Wearily Gracia got up and went to get Elicia. The little girl was still sleeping peacefully as she entered the room and she allowed herself to watch her for a while. Elicia hadn't seen her dad in such a long time and Gracia had played the part of a grieving widow. She had had no other choice, but it had been wearing on her like hell. The hardest part was that she couldn’t tell Riza and Roy. She loved them both so much and to see them break at the death of Maes … it had been the hardest thing she ever had to do yet. Only having Jean to talk to hadn't helped much either, but now… 

 

Now everything was happening again and worse: 

This time it was real.

It was still early morning as Gracia and Elicia arrived at the hospital. Ed had just been brought in and so it took a while until the doctors had checked on him and Gracia was let into the room. When she entered, Elicia in her arms, she saw that Alphonse was already sitting next to the bed, looking as miserable as it was possible for suit of amour.

 

"Uncle Al!" Elicia cried, demanding to be let down and immediately ran to Al as she did so. Al opened his arms and scooped her up. 

 

"Hello Elicia!" He said and only then the little one recognised the tiny figure in bed. " Uncle Ed?" She asked quietly, then looking over at Al questioningly." Is Uncle Ed sick?" 

 

Al nodded gently, setting her down while Gracia walked closer to the bed, her eyes resting on the boy who even seemed smaller then before in all these bandages.

 

"Yes, he is hun. I told you we were going to visit him. Hello Al. "

 

"Hello Gracia." He looked at her for a few seconds. "I´m sorry." 

Trying a small smile she nodded at him, not showing that he just shattered what had been the tiniest bit of hope on her side. If Al believed them to be dead as well, then… then they were probably dead. Then there was no chance that they were hiding like Maes had done until recently and no chance that there would be another message telling her not to fear.

 

"It's okay, Al." Not wanting to speak about this now and knowing this was probably the wrong place for it with all the listening ears outside, she changed the theme immediately. " What did the doctors say about Edward? Is he going to be all right again?" 

  
Alphonse nodded. "Yes, he is. Though he might be unconscious for a while due to his head injuries. He…" 

 

He didn’t get any further as they were interrupted by a noise coming from the bed. Edward thrashed for a second, then opened his eyes but seemed not to be able to focus anything. Reaching out to something before him, he slurred. "Mustang.. bastard… no" and then went limp again. 

Alphonse and Gracia stared at each other for a second, then Gracia went to call the nurses. 

 

#

 

Gracia wandered through the street, letting out a long sigh. Now it was just two corners left and they would be home again. They had called the doctors immediately after Edward had woken and they were quite surprised at what had happened. Apparently it wasn’t normal for patients to wake up in such a state, but then again nothing in the boy´s life had ever been normal anyway. The doctors had checked him again, making sure he was all right and told them that they shouldn’t expect to wake him up for another two days. 

But at least he was going to be all right, that was all that counted. 

 

Gracia had left soon after, since Elicia was getting tired and would need her nap soon and she had offered Alphonse to stay with them but he had declined. He said he didn’t want to disturb her in such times. 

Gracia shook her head. Such times. All she needed now was something which would get her mind of the dark thoughts which begun forming in her head every time she had a few moments to breathe. So Alphonse would have been quite welcome, though she understood his decision. The poor boy had enough problems on his own already. 

 

Walking towards the grocer she bought some groceries and a big ice cream cone for Elicia and headed home. 

Maybe she could cook something nice for Elicia. 

She needed something to forget. Just for a moment, she thought, tears once again forming in her eyes.

 

#

 

As Roy woke, he felt nothing but pain. Straining his eyes to see something, he found himself in a darkened room, without any furniture at all. The only light seemed to be coming from a slot to his left and as he looked closer he could see it once had been a window of some sort. The walls seemed to be completely bare, already crumbling slightly and he realised he had to be in a basement or even an abandoned house of some sort. 

Taking a deep breath he tried to stand but winced as he felt a sharp pain in his back. Nevertheless he made it and was just about to slowly wander towards the slot of light as he heard a strange noise behind him.

He turned around, to find himself face to face with a man he truly despised and who was the least he had expected to be here. 

 

"Oh I see you are already awake, Roy." Archer stated, a strange smile on his face. "You've made quite a mess out there."

 

Roy raised an eyebrow. "What?" 

 

"You don’t remember, do you?" 

 

Roy winced inwardly. All he could he remember was that they had been in Lior, Scar had activated the array, or well, he assumed it had been Scar. After it they went into the destroyed town and they suddenly had been attacked from behind. Since he had been wearing his gloves he had snapped to attack back and then everything went black. But wait there was something he was missing… he couldn’t point his finger on it yet. God, his head hurt.

 

"No, not really..:" He whispered not sure if it was a good idea to tell this to the other man. 

 

"Ah well…" 

 

Roy couldn’t decide if Archer looked actually pleased with this or if this was just his imagination. 

 

"If it would be you, I´d run. You know what the military does to the ones who kill their own kind, do you?" 

 

"I… what?"

 

Archer watched him with a pitiful expression that unnerved Roy. 

 

"Its seems like you overdid it a bit there. You precious snapping killed Lieutenant Hawkeye and Hughes."

 

Hughes? Wait, he was… 

The he remembered. Just a few moments before the explosion someone who looked exactly like Hughes had appeared. Roy had been speechless, not sure if he had been seeing ghosts but the fight demanded so much at this time and Hughes had helped them throwing his knifes….

Still he didn’t have an idea what exactly he had seen… 

If it really had been Hughes…  
Roy legs crumbled and he found himself sitting on the floor a second later.

"That's … that cant be true. " No it couldn’t. He couldn’t do this all over again and if Hawkeye..

 

"It is. Go out and ask them yourself. You should be happy that I took a pity on you and got you out of there, before the troops managed to find you." 

 

Roy was trembling now. "Its not true. I didn’t kill them. I never would:…" 

 

Archer just shrugged. "Think whatever you will. You'll find out soon enough anyway." Turning around he went for the door, before looking back once again. "You should find something for your shoulder. It looks quite bad, hardly managed to stop the bleeding…" 

 

And with that he walked out of the room, leaving the door open for Roy, who was still trying to calm himself down. 

"It's not true. It can't be." Roy now shouted at an empty room and picked himself up. Riza was fine and Archer was just playing with his mind. He would proof that and then get back at that bastard for it. And Maes…

he really needed to find out what the hell had happened there…

Trying to black out the pain which once again made itself know, he walked into the light outside.

 

#

 

"Come on, Elicia, we are home. Why don’t you go play with your dolls for a bit?" Gracia said, searching for the key in her pocket while opening the small gate to the front porch. Elicia already ran through it as Gracia suddenly heard a voice from behind.

 

"Mrs. Hughes?" Turning around she found herself face to face with a girl she hadn't expected to see again this soon. 

 

"Oh hello Winry." Gracia nodded at the blonde girl in front of her, who seemed a bit awkward now.

 

"Hello, Mrs. Hughes. Al told me about what happened." She stated simply, then looked up from the place on the ground she had been staring at. " I went to see Edward at the hospital Alphonse wanted me to stay at the dorms with him but the military wouldn’t allow…"

 

Gracia managed a small smile. "It´s all right, Winry. You know you are always welcome here. I'm sure Elicia will be really happy if you stay with us again. Right hun?" Elicia seemed to agree with her mother and stormed towards Winry, almost knocking her over with her hug. 

"See?" Gracia laughed and set the groceries down, still searching for the key. Finally she managed to retrieve it from the bag and held it up happily, giving it to Elicia.   
"Elicia, can you open the door for me please?" Elicia nodded gladly and stormed towards the door while Gracia picked the groceries up again. 

 

"Mrs. Hughes?" Winry sounded even more awkward now, but Gracia already could imagine why. 

"I heard rumours that…" Winry swallowed. "Is it true that the Colonel killed Mrs. Hawkeye and Mr. Hughes?"

 

Gracia just took a deep breath, not sure what to answer. 

 

#

 

Roy winced once more, cursing his shoulder for giving him such pain at the time when he last needed it.Only now he realised that he was in Central again. How the hell had he get here? Had Archer taken him here after what had occurred in Lior? He still hadn't the slightest idea what had happened since yesterday. 

 

Right now he was on his to the headquarters as fast as this was possible with his bleeding shoulder, which still felt like it had been stabbed by something. Given the state of his uniform, which was getting soaked quickly, he assumed Archer had been right with it being quite bad. Nevertheless he didn’t care. He needed to find out if Riza and that person who had looked like Maes were all right, then would look for a doctor. A little pain wouldn’t stop him from that. Walking around the corner he stopped as he saw a familiar face not far from him. 

 

Gracia was standing in front of her gate with a bag of groceries, Elicia not far behind. She seemed to be searching for something. Roy opted for a moment to go to her and ask for a phone but then stopped as he heard another voice calling out for her. 

 

Recognising the girl immediately he cringed. What the hell was Winry doing here? Why was she with Gracia? With all the problems he had now he really didn’t need to be reminded of the older ones. 

Nonetheless he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the two women and watched as Elicia ran over to hug the older girl and then got the key from her mother to open the door. Not really noticing he had walked a little closer and was now able to hear some fragments of their conversation. 

At this moment a wave of dizziness washed over him and he was just about to walk over to Gracia, Winry or no Winry, as he stopped. 

 

A little wind was blowing now and all he could hear was " Colonel… killed… Hawkeye and Mr:Hughes" and he knew what Winry was talking about. Seeing Gracia´s reaction was too much and he ran as fast as his shaky feet were carrying him.

 

#

 

"I ...lets go inside." Gracia didn’t really want to talk about this outside and Winry seemed to understand. Grabbing the groceries they followed Elicia who had opened the door already.

 

Once inside Gracia showed Winry her room upstairs while Elicia went to play with her dolls in the living room. She expected Winry to get back to the theme any minute now, but no such thing happened. But Gracia was glad about that since she doubted she was able to talk about this right now without starting to cry or even scream. It just wasn’t fair.

 

"Are you going back to the hospital today?" Gracia asked, getting out some fresh sheets and handed them to Winry, who nodded.

 

"Yeah, I wanted to. They are doing some treatments and said I could come back late afternoon." 

 

Gracia nodded, then let out a long breath. "Can you do me a favour then and watch Elicia for a while? I think I need some time alone to think." 

 

Luckily Winry agreed and Gracia was relieved. She told Winry to tuck Elicia into bed for her nap and went outside soon after. 

She needed to get out of this house for a few minutes. Ever since she had walked back in her eyes seemed to fall onto the pictures of Maes or Roy. One of Riza even had toppled over as she went by it and this and all the other little things, which reminded her of the three, made her nuts right now.

Walking along the streets without having an idea where to go she couldn’t help but think there was something else as well. Somehow there was a feeling, something drawing her out of the house, like it was calling her. 

Gracia sighed, willing herself to stop trembling but she didn’t succeed. Maybe she was going crazy already…

 

#

 

Roy continued to run until he couldn’t breath anymore. He had no idea where to go and what to do now. 

God, it really had been Maes, shot through his head again and he winced. No, no no no this could be happening. Riza…

He still couldn’t really remember what had happened, except for the explosion and the dizziness made him stop for another time.

 

Wearily he looked around. He wasn’t that far from the market place and if he went into the street to his right he would come straight to his apartment. Right. That was a good idea. There'd be a phone there and even more important: some whiskey. 

 

It took less than 5 minutes until he was standing in front of his door. Fumbling the keys into the lock he made it inside just before his knees gave out and he sank down to the floor, crying. It took him a while until he calmed down so much again, that he was able to walk into the kitchen, getting the whiskey bottle from its place where neither Riza nor Maes had managed to find it. Not bothering with a glass he opened it and took a deep gulp immediately, letting the liquid burn down his throat. 

Why the hell did these things always happen to him? 

Why couldn’t the pain ever stop and only got worse? 

Why did he always have to hurt everyone?

Maybe death was all he truly deserved.

 

Walking into the living room he leaned against the wall for a second, looking out of the window at the now cloudy sky. It would rain soon and somehow it reminded him once more how useless he was most of the time. Sinking down to the floor he took another swig from the bottle, before starting to sob harder again. He cried for a while until his head hurt so much that he couldn’t really sob anymore and drank more whiskey, then put the bottle onto the floor. 

 

His back wound choose to make itself known again, but he didn’t care. Maybe it would just be easy for once and he would bleed to death. 

He would just have to wait long enough and …

 

Staring at the now nearly empty bottle of whiskey he took it into his hands and threw it against the wall, not caring about the mess it made. There couldn’t be a bigger mess than his own life right now anyway, he reasoned, and slowly got up to walk to the cupboard in the hall. 

 

Opening the door he actually smiled as he found what he was searching for. Taking the gun into his hands he made sure it was loaded and then walked back into the living room, again going back to the place where he had been before. Once seated he stared at the piece of metal for a while before finally taking it into his mouth. 

 

The metallic taste was strange to him, foreign and yet so familiar. The last time he had tasted this Maes had been there to stop him. He remembered the pleading eyes all to well, the frantic movements of his friend and the careful touches attempting to calm him. 

This all was past. 

Now…

Now he just had to find the courage. 

The courage to make this one movement with his fingers and then it all would stop. There would be no pain, no anger, no problems. 

Just nothing. 

Silence. 

And it would only take that one tiny movement. 

God, why was he always such a coward?

 

#

 

"Do you really think he is going to kill himself?" the man asked for the umpteenth time and Archer grimaced.

 

"He will, believe me. Mustang cares for these people and since they are about to be pronounced dead he will believe he killed them. Evidence points to that anyway. And then he'll go to his apartment, drink a little bit too much and play with his gun. Its not like he didn’t do this before." 

  
Both man laughed at this.

"And you know what is even better?" 

 

The other man raised an eyebrow and Archer continued, still smiling.

"If the dumbwits Hughes and Hawkeye are alive and hear that their friend has killed himself due to them, it will break their tiny little hearts to pieces. They wont pose any problems anymore then, I'm sure of it. They will just wallow in their grief and guilt at their friends death. And with that evidence wont even point at us the slightest." 

 

The other man nodded approvingly, but then became serious. 

"Lets hope you are right, Archer. Cause if you aren't, he's not going to be amused."

 

"Don’t worry I am. I know I am." 

 

#

 

Gracia was still walking. She had been doing this for half an hour now and still had no real idea what she was doing. Somehow she had hoped that the fresh air and the different environment would calm her somewhat but no avail.

 

No matter where she went, no matter which house or place she passed, there always seemed to be something which reminded her of Maes, Roy or Riza. 

Entering a street right to her, she wandered on, not really looking at the street sign with the street name. After a few metres she came to a halt, shaking her head.

 

What the hell am I doing here? She asked herself. I'm running around like a madman when I should be looking after my daughter. Also Winry wanted to visit Edward in the hospital again and it wouldn’t be fair to leave her alone with Elicia for so long. 

 

As if the heavens wanted to comment on her decision on going home, it started raining at this very moment and Gracia looked up and raised an eyebrow.

 

"Yeah, its okay I´ll go home." She mumbled to herself and wanted to walked away as she suddenly stopped. 

 

It was only now that she realised where she was. There, about two houses to her left was Roy´s apartment and she couldn’t help but stare at the windows on the second floor, where she knew his home was.   
Or rather had been. 

Remembering that she had visited him here quite a few times with Riza and Maes and sometimes even alone when both of them had been sent to a mission, she swallowed. 

 

What would happen to Roy´s things now? Would they send them to his relatives in Xing or would the military simply destroy them? 

It was a strange thinking about stuff like this right now, but she somehow couldn’t help herself. Still staring at the windows she wished that Roy would simply look out and wave at her, but she knew it would never happen again and …

Wait. 

She could have sworn she had seen a silhouette moving at one of the windows. 

Okay, she was probably going mad again, was she? 

No, there it was, it was faint, as if the person was walking through the living room, but not close enough to the windows to be really seen, but it was there. 

 

Holding her breath Gracia started walking again, this time she knew where she was going. Taking a quick look around she made sure that no one was watching and then took out the spare key from its hiding place under the big flower pot close to the door. 

Maes had placed it there last time after Roy had been drinking too much again and it was only to be used at emergencies, which sorta meant right now.

 

Opening the front door with the key as quickly as possible she walked upstairs silently and just wanted to look into the hiding place for the actual key to Roy´s apartment, as she saw that the door to it was already slightly ajar. 

 

Gracia´s heart began thumping in her chest and as she took another step towards the door to fully open it, a shot rang through the house. 

Without thinking Gracia started to run, nearly falling over her own two feet.

"God, please no." 

Was all she managed to think at this very moment. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 

Gracia´s heart nearly stopped beating as she entered the living room. There, sitting against one of walls, was Roy Mustang. He was bleeding from something which probably was a bad tended shoulder wound and he also had a gash on his neck, where apparently a bullet had graced him, but he was alive. Seeing that he still had his revolver in his right hand, she jumped towards him, trying to wrestle it from him.

 

"Roy please." She whispered but he tried to push her off and she had to struggle once more. 

 

"Go away. " he pressed, barely audible. "Go. I deserve to die." 

 

"Roy, no." She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks now .

 

"Go away, I'm scum. I deserve to die, the world is better off without me." 

 

Shaking her head Gracia did the only thing she could think of and pressed her lips to Roy´s. Although he didn’t respond he was so stunned for a moment that she could get a hold of the pistol and managed to throw it across the room. 

 

"Roy please… don’t leave me." She pleaded, then much quieter. "Not you as well." Turning his face to the side to avoid her touches, Roy made an attempt to get up but failed. Gracia was sitting on his legs now and although she didn’t weigh much it was enough to hold him down due to his injuries.

 

"Maes…" His voice broke and Gracia took his face into her hands again, making him look at her.

 

"I know Roy, I know.." She answered him. "I know I should have told you earlier but I couldn’t… I … god…" They were both sobbing now, holding onto each other. 

 

"Gracia, I … killed… I …" another sob, much harder this time, leaving Roy unable to speak. Gracia just nodded and stroked his head, silently crying herself.

 

After a while they calmed down a bit, probably due to exhaustion and Gracia tried to swallow the sobs for a second. "Roy?" She asked insecurely. 

 

He stopped for a second and looked at her, eyes still wide with pain.

"Yeah?" He managed.

 

"Just… just tell me one thing. Have .. have you seen their bodies?" 

Roy looked at her in shock, obviously not expecting such a direct question, but then shook his head. "No, I … don’t … I hardly can remember anything. We were attacked then there suddenly was Maes and …an explosion… then everything went black. When I woke there was Archer and he told me that…" Once more he started to cry. " I can't do anything right, I'm sorry." He looked at her for another time but then let his gaze drop again. "I cant even kill myself right." 

 

Gracia´s eyes narrowed at this. "Roy, I don’t know what happened, but the fact that there are no bodies yet means that there is hope. And since when do you believe what Archer says? He is constantly trying to blackmail you, so he could as well make it all up and have them around somewhere." 

 

Roy had quieted down again and was staring at her now. Gracia kissed him onto his forehead, before locking his gaze again.

 

"Roy, and even if…." She swallowed. "Even if they are … I know you'd never hurt them on purpose. And I ….listen… I couldn’t bare too loose you as well…" she looked at the gun at the corner, then back once more. "Promise me… promise me you'll never do that again, please? I …" The tears had made their way down again and she stifled a sob before kissing him. "Please never do that again. You scared me. Please?" Roy said nothing at this and Gracia started to shake him. "Please? Promise me. I cant do this without you. I …" 

 

It took a few seconds, but then Roy nodded. "I…. I´ll promise." He spoke softly. "I´m sorry."

 

Gracia just nodded and allowed herself a tiny, tiny smile for the first time since Jean had brought her the gruelling news. "It's okay. I love you… never forget that." With that she locked him into another kiss, before getting up. "Now let's get you cleaned up and bandaged. I´ll better call a doctor, your shoulder doesn’t look good."

 

"No." Roy shook his head vehemently. "I .. I think I should stay low for now. I still don’t have a real idea what we are up against."

  
Gracia sighed and nodded. "Okay, but at least lets get you bandaged and then we'll go to my place. And I´ll call Knox." At his hard look she just shook her head. "No there's no way around that. I´ll make you some coffee to get that damn alcohol out of your system." Grabbing the gun, she secured it again, like Riza had shown her some time ago and went to the kitchen to get bandages and coffee. 

 

It didn’t take long until she came back. 

"Roy, dare I ask from what your are existing? All I found is a glass of pickles and an empty can of coffee. And this.. "Holding a rather small bandage in front of him, she shook her head. 

 

Roy just groaned. "Yeah I know, I should have restocked my groceries and the med box, but with getting send to Lior so quick I kinda forgot." 

Gracia just sighed. "Ah well, guess we have to get you to my house then. We have to be careful though, Winry is there."

 

"Yeah I know, I saw you guys talking." Gracia just shot him a look. "And you didn't come and ask for help? I mean although Winry and you didn't…."

Then it clicked into place. "You also heard us talking, didn’t you?"

 

Roy nodded.

 

Gracia took a long breath. "Okay that explains a lot." Lending him a hand she helped him to his feet and gave him a hug. "Its really like everything which can go wrong goes wrong recently. Its like we are cursed." 

 

At this moment Roy started to fidget in her arms and Gracia let him loose from her embrace. "You all right?"

  
Roy´s face was green." No, I think I…" 

 

They just made it into the bathroom before Roy lost the fight with his Whiskey. Gracia simply stood behind him, watching with concern in case something happened.

 

"When will you ever learn that drinking leads to nothing?" She said quietly, more to herself, but Roy reacted anyway.

 

"Never, you know that. All I wanted was to stop feeling anything and alcohol is what does that best." 

 

Gracia just shook her head. "And it makes you feel it even worse after the few minutes of false bliss, you know that." 

 

Roy didn’t say anything to that but since he was already clutching the toilet bowl again he was probably agreeing.

 

About twenty minutes later Roy was considerably less green and finally got up on his feet again, albeit swaying slightly.

"Careful." Gracia scolded him and steadied him by securing his healthy shoulder with an arm. " We really should get this thing bandaged up. You are still loosing blood and your hangover doesn't help any as well. And at home I have some painkillers for you. " 

 

"Yeah, we should get going. Though I still don’t have an idea yet how to get out of here unseen. Gosh my head hurts already." Roy complained and Gracia rolled her eyes at him.

 

"Roy, do your neighbours still have that bike with the little trailer?" Gracia´s then asked, her mind already at work. 

 

"Yes, they have. But they are not here at the moment. John and the kids are visiting their relatives." 

 

"That doesn’t mean we cant borrow it."

 

Roy just grinned." I guess you are right."

 

Only a few minutes later Roy found himself lying on the tiny trailer, covered with a blanket. Placed onto the blanket for cover were a few books and other things of him so that it looked like that Gracia had just gotten a few things from his apartment.

 

The drive only took a few minutes and once there Gracia took the bike carefully around the house into the garden.

 

"I´ll try to be quick. Stay where you are." She whispered and made her way to the front door again. 

 

As soon as she was inside she called for Winry, who was sitting in the living room. ."Winry, I'm back. Sorry I took so long." 

 

"Oh no problem. Elicia is still asleep upstairs. She didn't really want to go to bed once you were gone and it took me quite a while, but half an hour ago she finally fell asleep." 

 

Gracia smiled at the girl and thanked her, before making her way to the curtains, closing them. "So, are you going to visit Edward now?" She asked and Winry nodded, already jumping up.

 

"Yeah, I think its best if I go immediately so I can make use of the visitor hours fully. Thanks again for letting me stay here."

 

Gracia just waved her hand as an answer and a few minutes later Winry was already gone to the hospital. Gracia took another look through the now closed curtains and not seeing anything suspicious on the street, she walked towards the backdoor.

 

"Come on Roy, she is gone." She whispered and only a second later the man was safe in her house.

 

 

#

 

Winry was already half way along the way to the hospital, as she noticed she had forgotten the something she had wanted to give to the Elrics, along with the information she had acquired when she investigated Hughes death Szieska.. It was a journal of Hohenheim, which she had found in the cellar with some old books of her mother, and she thought that maybe the boys wanted to have it. Judging by the looks of it there were even some alchemic notes in there and maybe it could be of use to Edward, who knew? 

 

Originally she had wanted to give it to Alphonse at the hospital already, but had forgotten it and as she had opened her bag at the Hughes she had remembered. 

 

Which didn’t stop her from forgetting it on the table in the hallway of course, she thought and shook her head. 

 

Anyway back to the house then, she would only loose a few minutes. 

Carefully putting the keys into the lock she made sure she wasn’t too loud, as Elicia had still been asleep as she left. She saw the book straight away on the table and wanted to grab it as she heard a few hushed voices from the living room. 

 

Thinking that it was probably a good thing that Mrs. Hughes had a visitor who hopefully would distract her from everything, she saw that the door to the room was ajar and decided to say hello.

 

She just wanted to enter the room as she suddenly heard a voice she knew all too well and stopped dead in her tracks.

No, that couldn’t be, could it?

This man was dead and honestly she had been kinda glad about it, cause he sure as hell deserved it and…

But it was true.

There on the couch was Roy Mustang, shirtless, with a huge bandage around his right shoulder and if that even wasn't bad enough, the bastard was kissing Gracia! 

 

Winry was so shocked that she couldn’t move and only a second later Mustang's gaze fell upon her. He jerked away from the woman who turned around, looking shocked herself.

"Winry wait, we can explain." 

 

But it was too late, Winry was already running, hoping to get out of here as fast as possible as she nearly collided with a man in a blue military uniform. 

"Excuse Miss, is Mrs. Hughes home?" Winry just stared at him, not able to say anything and the man continued. "We have a few questions regarding the whereabouts of Colonel Roy Mustang, maybe you can help us as well?" 

 

Later she could have sworn she heard Gracia´s whispered "Shhh." before she blurted out without really being able to think clearly. "Mustang is in the living room." And somehow regretted it already a second later.

 

But it was already too late. The man in the uniform motioned the two soldiers behind him, which she hadn't been able to see, to come in. 

As she turned around again Mustang was already standing in the living room door, hands in the air, the soldiers next to him.

 

"Its okay, I´ll come freely… Sir." He said, not sparing her a glance. Gracia appeared behind him, looking visibly tense, nearly shaken. 

Little Elicia picked this moment to walk down the stairs, probably woken by the ruckus and the man in the blue uniform wandered over to her.

 

"Oh such a cute daughter.." Moving to touch her, he was stopped by a growl, coming from Roy Mustang. 

 

"Keep your hands of her!" 

Before the man could do anything else Gracia rushed to her daughter, scooping her up. The man grimaced, but then turned back to Roy Mustang.

"Well Mustang you run ends here." One move and the soldiers cuffed the man, leading him away. 

 

Gracia just stood there, watching, and Winry nearly jumped as the man in uniform stopped in front of her, touching her cheek. "I really have to thank you, young Miss." He smiled strangely and Winry shuddered inwardly. Something about this man wasn't right. As much as she hated Mustang, she didn’t really feel happy about letting him go with him. 

 

"I think you should go now, General Hakuro." Gracia insisted and the man nodded.

 

"Yeah, I got what I came for, didn’t I?." Turning around he walked towards the door. "Have a nice day, Mrs. Hughes." And with that he vanished into the car, where Mustang and the soldiers were already waiting and browsed off. 

 

Mrs. Hughes took a long breath and closed the door, then let Elicia down again. "Hun, why don’t you go upstairs already? I´ll come in a few minutes." 

 

Elicia did as she was told and Winry was alone with the woman.

"I… I mean… what? Why?" Winry tried, but Gracia just regarded her with a serious expression, not really showing any emotion anymore.

 

"I think you should go and visit Edward." She said sternly and then turned around to shut the door after the girl had stepped out. 

 

Winry swallowed her questions, at least for now. Maybe it was really a good idea to leave for a while. Maybe when they both had calmed down, talking would be easier. She had just turned around and wanted to start walking as she heard Gracia´s voice again. "Oh and Winry?"

 

"Yes?" 

 

"Dinner is at seven."

 

With that the door was closed and Winry was alone with her thoughts and questions. She had done the right thing, hadn't she? Mustang was a murderer and if he had killed again he sure would get what he deserved. But why had Gracia kissed him? Him of all the people who was suspected in killing her husband and Lieutenant Hawkeye? She'd never imagined that the woman would do anything like this, let alone right now.

 

God her head hurt. It had just been today that Alphonse gave her a letter he had wanted to send to her. In it he explained that they had met Hughes in Lior and were surprised to learn he had played dead to the rest of the world. And then they had seen Riza and Mustang being attacked and… 

 

She shook her head, everything was so confusing. She guessed that there was only one person who could make sense of everything and that was Mustang. Too bad she couldn’t ask him anymore, she thought to herself and continued to the hospital.

 

#

 

Closing the door behind Winry, Gracia fought the urge to scream. But she knew it wouldn't lead to anything and so she walked over to the phone instead and started to dial a number.

 

"Can I speak to Lieutenant Havoc, please?" she said with a shaky voice, which she cursed herself for, but was put through immediately. "Jean, did you forget that invited you to coffee today?" She asked, knowing that the man would understand. 

 

"Oh I forgot, but I have to work anyway, maybe next Friday at five?"

 

"Okay, see you then." She muttered and glanced at the clock at the wall. It was nearly four thirty so Jean would be here in half an hour. With another sigh she walked into the kitchen and started to make tea.

 

#

 

Winry was still confused when she arrived at the hospital. Walking to the room number 318 where she remembered Ed being in before, she was shocked to find an empty bed. Immediately she went to the next nurse to ask if they had changed rooms but she shook her head and Winry, refrained from asking more. 

 

Damn it, were the boys on the run once more? She couldn’t really imagine it with Ed being hurt, but one never knew what drove this two. Nevertheless she couldn’t believe Al would leave without telling her. 

 

Remembering her recent meeting with General Hakuro she stopped dead in her tracks. Maybe the man had come to get them as well? No, they hadn't had anything to do with the incident with Mustang had they? Come to think of it they had. Winry cursed herself for being so bland and decided to go to the military base. Maybe one of Mustang subordinates could help her there. 

 

Walking out of the hospital she nearly overhead the silent whistle coming from a small alley next to the building. Only when she heard the whistle for a second time she turned around and saw Alphonse hiding behind some woods panels, waving her.

 

"What the hell are you doing? Where's Ed ?" She asked as she came over to him.

 

"He's safe inside a closet." 

 

Winry raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

 

"I had to hide Ed in a closet because there were some strange people eyeing the hospital. But that's not the real problem, I cant really touch him anymore." Opening his breast plate he revealed a somewhat red glow within him, which seemed to be pulsating and growing. "If I touch him the Philosophers stone might react to it, cause he is an Alchemist."

 

Winry´s eyes only grew wider. "What the ..?" 

 

She just wanted to ask what the hell had happened as Alphonse suddenly pushed her behind the wood panels. "Shhh." He motioned, his huge metal fingers coming in front of his face. 

 

It took a moment but then Winry saw what he meant. General Hakuro and his two soldiers had just come out of the hospital. They seemed to be looking around, searching for someone.

 

"That’s the guy who came to get Mustang." She whispered and could have sworn that Alphonse´s eyes grew wide, as much as this was possible for a suit of amour. 

 

"Mustang is alive?" 

#

 

_Edward Elric could have sworn he never had been that afraid in his life. Somehow he had hoped to prevent this all, but since it was his damn excuse of a life, it of cause hadn't worked out and Scar had managed to activate the array. He didn't want to think about how many people had died, although he was thankful that he at least had managed to save some of these damn soldiers. Shuddering at the thought of what had happened once more, he decided to focus on the more important tasks at hand. He needed to find Alphonse._

 

_Looking through the ruins he hoped to get a tiny glimpse of metal amour anywhere, but to no avail. It seemed like his brother had been swallowed by the ground._

 

_Or consumed by the Philosopher's Stone._

 

_No that couldn’t be, he knew that. In his amour Al had been safe…_

_At least he wanted to believe that Flexing his metal arm he tried ignore the impending heat which seemed to develop in it. He hated the desert with passion, cause the hotter it was the hotter his automail got. Well at least he could brand his enemies now, he mused._

 

_Walking around a particular big piece of rubble he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a figure peeking from a corner before him. Not being able to make out the face he still couldn’t shake the familiarity of it. There was something about this … man… Edward now definitely could make out it was a man, that left him with a pang in his heart. Noticing that the man was now coming over to him he finally rcognized what it was. The figure was no other then Maes Hughes, clothed in civilian clothes and Ed shook his head. Of course where Mustang was there was Hughes, so why did it felt so strange to see him here? He had no idea._

 

_"Ed, good to finally find you." Maes whispered and took him by the arm before hiding them behind a wall. "I found Alphonse and hid him somewhere safe, come follow me." Ducking behind a wall they scurried a few metres further before they started running and finally came to what looked like it once had been at least a two story house. Climbing through one of the now destroyed windows Hughes vanished inside while Edward went after him._

 

_"Alphonse? Alphonse? Its me, I found Edward." Hughes whispered and only a second later the suit of amour appeared out of a corner._

 

_"Al, are you all right?"_

 

_"Yes I am, though it was very close. Hughes found me but I feel a bit strange."_

 

_Concerned Edward walked over to him. "What is it?"_

 

_"Its… nothing. I just feel strange after all what happened. Did Mustang and the others make it out all right?" Al suddenly asked and looked at Hughes, who shrugged._

 

_"I have no idea. I hope so. I saw Roy over at the base before it happened but haven't seen any of them since." Hughes looked worried all of the sudden and Ed shuddered at the thought of what had happened just a while ago._

 

_"Bustard's probably all right, don’t worry. It takes more to kill him." Ed reassured the other man and hoped that he was right. The transmutation had taken the lives from an awful lot of people that was for sure and he sincerely hoped that at least no one he knew was under the victims._

 

_Nodding, Hughes sighed before looking at him at him with serious face again. "How is he anyway?"_

 

_"Huh? How should I know, you are the one hanging with him all the time so why are you asking me?" Ed rolled his eyes at the man, but then stopped as he saw Hughes face drop._

 

_"I guess he didn’t tell you, didn’t he?"_

 

_"What?"_

 

_"Well… " Hughes took a long breath before he continued. "To him and the others I'm dead."_

 

_Edward's eyes widened and Alphonse shifted rather rashly, obviously surprised as well. "So you had a fight? I never…"_

 

_"No fight Edward, Roy believes I was killed by the homunculi."_

_That did it. For the first time ever Hughes saw Edward Elric speechless._

 

_"Why… why would you do such a thing… I mean… your wife …" Alphonse was the first one who found his voice back, sounding rather confused and insecure._

 

_"I.. Gracia knows. As for Roy and the others, they needed to believe it so I could investigate the homunculi better. If our enemies also thought I was dead, they wouldn’t search for me and…"_

 

_He was halted by a noise and some voices from outside and immediately went still, motioning the boys to be quiet with a finger over his lips. As the noise subsided all of them dared to breath again and he looked over to Edward once more._

 

_Edward just stared at him, still at loss. "I don’t understand," Ed said, shaking his head._

 

_" I´ll try and explain later. For now we have to get you boys out of here away from the military, follow me." Hughes responded and all of them got up and crawled out of the house. Looking around they started running towards the western side of the desert as Hughes suddenly stopped._

 

_"Shit. You two hide somewhere I`ll be right back." And with that he started running eastwards, leaving Ed and Al puzzled at first, but as they looked after them they understood._

 

_Not far from them they could see Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye, both entranced in a fight with what looked like two of the homunculi. Roy was snapping as fast as he could while Riza was shooting, but it was clear they had their hands full. Watching them Ed was determined to help them first, but then decided against it. At first he needed to make sure that Alphonse was safe, then he would help the others. So he settled Al back into the house where they had been before and then crawled back outside, only to be stopped by two voices he knew all to well._

 

_That damn kid Wrath was laughing like the maniac he was and Ed barely could contain himself from storming out and kicking his ass._

 

_"They are so stupid, just one snap and they will be toast." The little boy giggled and although he couldn't see her, Ed could hear Lust's smile in her voice as she cooed._

 

_" Yeah and I never thought it'd be so easy… just some gas and a stupid Alchemist."_

 

_Ed's eyes widened. Crawling out of the hole as soon as the homunculi were far away enough he started to run, searching for the three soldiers. Finally grasping a tiny bit of blue in what seemed to be a rather still complete fabric hall he started to dash towards them, yelling on top of his lungs._

 

_"Mustang…bastard, whatever you do…just don’t snap."_

 

#

 

"Roy´s alive?" Jean gasped, for what must have been the third time and Gracia nodded. 

 

"Yes, he is, He was just here about an hour ago. But as Hakuro appeared…"

 

Jean looked at her then shook her head. "That doesn’t make sense. Hakuro is still stationed in the West, and as far as I know Falman talked to one of his subordinates on the phone this morning. If he would be here we would know and it would take over two days to get here anyway…." 

 

"Jean, I know what I saw. I may have met Hakuro only twice but I know this man." 

 

Jean frowned at her. "Something is wrong Gracia, very wrong, I can feel it." He said and she nodded, agreeing with this. 

 

They needed to find Roy. Fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody reading?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 

Riza Hawkeye felt like she had been hit by a truck. Slowly raising her head from the hard ground she had been lying on, she tried to open her eyes and focus on her surroundings, only coming back with nothing but black.

Nevertheless she sat up and looked around, trying to find out where she was. When she saw that she wasn’t enveloped in total darkness, she tried to get to small shimmering spot which could be seen quite far away from her and flinched as her body began to hurt even more. 

 

Only as her eyes gradually came back into focus she finally managed to fully take in her surroundings. It looked like some kind of tunnel, a sewer maybe. What the hell? How had she gotten here? She asked herself and tried to remember.

Lior, Scar, the Colonel and the array. Homunculi fighting them and Maes coming to their help. 

Wait. Maes?

That couldn’t be, he was dead. And.. .

She probably had hit her head harder than she thought. Damn it. But now she needed to find Roy. 

 

Just as she wanted to crawl towards the light again, she was interrupted by a low moan coming from somewhere behind her. She shot around and stooped dead in her tracks. There, just a few meters in front of her was a figure. He was lying in the dirt on the ground like she had done just minutes ago and was obviously hurt. And if that didn’t make it problematic enough, the figure looked exactly like Maes Hughes. Their Maes! 

 

Not daring to breath Riza crawled slowly towards him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Maes?" She asked, quietly, still not believing her eyes. This couldn’t be true. She and Roy had buried this man a few months ago and mourned for him. It had felt like someone had torn their hearts out and now…

No this couldn’t be happening. He had to be an impostor, but how…

The figure before her began to stir and Riza found herself flinching back as if she had been burned.

 

"Maes?" She tried again and held her breath as the man turned to look at her and smiled.

 

"Hey Riza." 

 

#

 

For someone who was still hurt Ed had a damn fast pace, Winry decided. They had made it to the Hughes` house in record time, even though they had to make sure they weren´t seen and now they were hiding close to the back door. It was just as they had made sure that no one was watching them as they suddenly saw the backdoor open and Havoc stepped out. As they had been just about to get in, he immediately saw them and looked quite shocked.

 

“What the hell?” he sighed and ushered them in, before going into the house again himself. “What are you doing here? Aren´t you supposed to be in hospital Ed?” Havoc asked, while Gracia came into the room, looking quite surprised as well.

 

Before Ed could answer, they heard another noise at the backdoor. Tack. Then another.

Tack.

 

Tack tack tack. 

 

Edward and Alphonse immediately went into fighting stance and were just about to clap as Gracia held up her hand. “No stop! I know who it is! Ed wait.” And with this she went to the backdoor and opened it. A whistle from her and only seconds later there was a black and blue mob rushing in which everyone in the room recognised as no one other as Roy Mustang. 

 

“So the Bastard is alive!” Edward greeted and Roy shot him a hard glance. “What? After the fireball in Lior it is surpirsing!” Ed went on grumbling, while the others glared at him, not even noticing how Roy´s face fell for a second before it went back to hardness again. 

 

“I don`t have time for this Fullmetal. I just came to get my gloves, the General and his men are still after me.” Roy bellowed, now all serious again. 

 

Havoc shook his head. “The general is still in West, I just spoke to Falman this morning. He...” 

 

But Roy Mustang already went on and ignored his subordinate. “Fullmetal, I think its best when you take your brother, Alphonse and Winry and go into hiding for a while. Havoc you take Gracia and Elicia to a safe house as well.” 

 

With that he wandered off towards the living room, leaving the others stare after him. 

 

Edward though wouldn´t have it and followed him. “Who are you to tell me that I am a coward who goes into hiding? Why do you think there´s someone after me anyway?” he rambled in typical Ed fashion, when he saw Mustang find his gloves and putting them on. Edward was just about to launch into tirade again as Mustang spun around and came to face him. 

 

“I´m still your superior, Fullmetal, so you will listen to me or I will put you in prison for disobeying. And why do I know? Because I just fled from them and I heard them talking about you und Alphonse. “ he all but growled, making even Edward take a step back at the angry tone of his voice. “And dont even try, as far as I know you are still hurt. You can not fight these things..” he spat the last word “... like this. They aren´t even human.”  


“Look who´s talking.” Ed countered not having missed Roy´s slight wince when he turned. But Roy wouldn´t listen. He was just about to storm out of the house again as Gracia placed herself in front of him, blocking the way out of the living room. 

 

“No, I´m not having any of this anymore. Either we all go. Together. Or I won´t leave this house and Elicia won´t either.” 

 

“But...” 

 

Gracia crossed her arms, looking determined. “I mean it Roy. I´m not letting you run off alone again. You can´t can´t make me. Not this time.”

 

 

#

 

 

Roy´s unease grew with each metre the train got closer to Rezeembool. Winry and Edward didn´t seem to be happy about him being there either and so each of them tried to avoid to look at each other and watching the landscape go by outside instead. 

 

Even though it had been Winry, who had remember that the train was about to leave an hour later and who had suggested that they would leave for Rezeembool with it, he was under no illusion that she did want him there. Gracia, Elicia and the boys, yes, but not him. The killer. 

 

For Ed it was probably also his brother. Alphonse was a ticking time bomb with the stone inside him and Edward seemed to think that Roy would use this to his advantage. Even though he was worried a bit about Alphonse, it couldn´t have been further off. Roy´s whole thoughts still seemed to be about two things: 1. how the hell he could make sure that everyone is this train carriage could be kept safe from these monsters they had encountered and 2. they often driftet to Hughes and Riza. He still wasn´t sure if he head really killed them and he still couldn´t remember everything of this day. There was the fight with two of these creatures, than suddenly Hughes was there and then: black. Nothing. 

 

Next thing he remembered had been Kimbley and him waking up as the bastard told him he had killed his friends. So the real thing he wanted to do now was get to Lior and investigate. 

 

But nevertheless he had complied and was on board this train now. Not that he did have another choice with Gracia acting all stubborn. 

 

It was also Gracia who tried to break the ice from time to time, handing them something to eat from the basket she still miracously had packed in all the chaos while they fled. Little Elicia was fast asleep on the booth next to them and Roy found himself eyeing the little girl for quite a while, thinking of Maes. 

 

A few hours later the train arrived in Rezeembol and they got out, Roy already counting the minutes until he could leave again. He would make sure they got to Winry´s safe and then he would go on to Lior in hope to find out what the hell had happened there. He knew Edward and Alphonse would protect Winry and the others and once Edward was of his back he would run. 

 

At the Rockbell house things seemed even worse. Even though she clearly didn´t want him here, Pinako had made sure he came in to eat. It was after that when the others went to settle down in the garden that he decided that it was now or never. Slowly picking up his jacket from the chair next to the door he was just about to go through as a cough from behind stopped him. 

 

“Leaving so soon?” 

 

Roy stopped and turned around to face the old owner of this house. What did Pinako want anyway? He was doing her a favor with leaving. She didnt want him here and he could understand that. 

 

“Yes.” he answered despite himself while Pinako looked at him, all thoughtful, still smoking her pipe.

 

“Well if you insist. But you do know that there will be no train tomorrow because they are repairing the tracks? The next train leaves in 3 days. So leave then if you want to, I wont hold you back.” 

 

Roy had nothing to say to this. Well yes, he might have remembered the note at the station a few weeks ago, but he hadn´t paid the notes much attention when they had fled. Pinako though didn´t seem to pay him much mind anymore and was already walking back towards the living room, before she stopped again. 

 

“Oh, and if you go, don´t run like some spoiled kid and tell the others will you?” She teased and wandered off, leaving a slightly embarrassed Roy in her wake. 

 

#

 

Winry was sitting on the porch, staring off into the garden enjoying some quiet time for once in a while. With the boys, Gracia, Elicia and Mustang here, the house seemed to impossibly full all the time. And loud. Especially if Edward was around. 

 

She was just about to enjoy the slight sound of birds chirping in the bushes next to her house as said boy came out onto the porch and settled down next to her. Winry sighed but didn´t have the heart to tell him to go away. Not when he was worrying about Alphonse that much. That and she hardly saw him anymore anyway. 

 

“You all right, Winry?” the blond boy asked surprisingly quiet and Winry nodded.

 

“Yes, just taking a breath.”

 

“Hm.” Silence from Edward. A whole new experience actually.

 

It took a few minutes until he spoke again. “Bastard still outside?” 

 

Winry nodded. “Yeah, he mostly walks around or sits in the garden. He´s really restless.”   
  
Ed just rolled his eyes and Winry laughed at that, but was actually glad that the blonde didn´t launch into another one of his tirades.

 

“Ed, do you really think he killed Riza and Lt. Hughes? I thought they were friends...” she then asked, all in thoughts. 

 

“They were. It wasn´t intentional but...” Edward paused, wincing at his thoughts. “Hell, I´m surprised the damn bastard´s still here, but I guess since he snapped in their direction, that he wasn´t in the direct line of the fire. But for them... I really doubt it. And if they were alive, they would be here, wouldn´t they?”

 

Neither of them both saw how Mustang sank back into the shadows again, head hanging now, having heard enough. 

 

#

 

The next night Al found himself outside in the garden again. It was a beautiful night. The stars gleamed above Resembool and Al wished he could smell the fresh wet grass as well, as he sat next to the tree not far from the Rockbell house and watched the stars. He had volunteered to do the first watch and although Roy was expecting him to wake him up at four, he probably would let him sleep. It was not like Al needed sleep anyway and he simply enjoyed sitting here, watching the stars just like he had done when he was a kid. 

 

It was only now that he realised how much he had missed this. When they were on the road they often were so busy that they didn’t think about it but each time they came here it felt like being sucked back into another world. A world that Al loved and definitely wanted to return to some day. 

And he would. 

 

Looking around the moonlit fields he watched two eyes dance through the night just a few feet away, knowing it was one of the farm cats on its hunt for mice and alike. He would have loved to pet the little fella but he doubted the cat would like that now and so he just watched him prey. It didn’t take long and the cat was gone again and Alphonse inwardly sighed, before flinching and going into attack mode as he heard a cracking noise behind him.

 

"Alphonse, I'm sorry. I didn't want to startle you." 

 

It took a few moments until Al could make out the Colonel in the moonlight, but he had already relaxed again as he heard the voice. There was no way the Colonel was here to harm him or anyone else, he knew that.

"Shouldn’t you be asleep Sir?" He asked, but then wasn’t sure if he had the right to ask so directly.

 

Roy didn’t seem to mind. "Oh my head just wouldn’t turn off tonight, so I thought I´d go for a little walk. Maybe you'd like to join me?" Roy replied casually and Alphonse nodded. Why not? He didn’t mind a little company.

 

They walked around the house for bit, both admiring the moonlit fields and the rest of the nature which looked beautiful in the silver shimmer. It was so peaceful here and Roy seemed to like that as well, Alphonse thought, as they stopped at the little hill and watched the stars for a bit. They didn’t talk much and it was only later when Alphonse realised that he should have noticed the arrays on Roy´s hands and the change in his overall demeanour. 

 

He should have known.

 

But he didn’t. 

 

So all Alphonse could do ,when Roy touched him and bent down to activate the array, was scream.


End file.
